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Passports with Purpose

Disclosure

I often travel on my own time and my own dime. Whenever I do receive a complimentary product, service, or accommodations as a result of my blogging activities, I will disclose that at the time I write about it. Midwest Guest is a member of an affiliates program in association with Amazon. If you click through the links to Amazon from here and purchase something at Amazon.com, I receive a small commission on the items.

April 27, 2010

Lake Erie is for the birds: Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge

Dedicated birders know that Ohio's Lake Erie shoreline is
the place to be during spring and autumn bird migrations, evidenced by the
reported 260,000 visitors making their way to several parks and wildlife
refuges in northwest Ohio each year.

The Ottawa Wildlife Refuge, about 15 miles east of Toledo
along Ohio's Route 2, was relatively quiet when we visited one recent sunny
weekday, but that was several weeks ahead of the annual Biggest Week in
American Birding.

The Biggest Week festivities in mid-May feature a full
schedule of birding events and tours in the Ottawa Wildlife Refuge and
adjoining Magee Marsh over a ten-day period with plenty to see and do for
experienced and beginning birders, as well as families and casual nature lovers.

We found plenty to see even during our visit, when the
weather was nice enough for a short walk, a picnic lunch, and a visit to the
refuge's visitors' center.

Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge is part of a larger complex
of refuges in between Toledo and Port Clinton in Ohio that include the Cedar
Point National Wildlife Refuge and the West Sister Island National Wildlife
Refuge, as well as the Schoonover Waterfowl Production area in nearby Lenawee
County, Michigan. The combined area is over 9,000 acres. Some of the areas are accessible
by permit only, but the Ottawa Refuge is the largest unit and open to the public
daily.

Established in 1961, the refuge provides shelter for
migratory birds and helps preserve the remaining few Lake Erie marshes in Ohio's
shrinking Great Black Swamp area.

Lake Erie presents a bit of an obstacle for some migratory
birds initially reluctant to cross the water on their way north each spring. As
the birds stop to rest and ponder how to best proceed, the avian population in
the marshes spikes, providing plenty of opportunity for birders and
photographers to observe and record their bird sightings.

April and October are peak months for waterfowl migration in
the area. May, June, and August are peak months for shore birds. Autumn and
winter are the best time to see bald eagles in the area, as the refuge is draws
the largest number of bald eagles anywhere in Ohio. May is the best time for those
seeking songbirds and warblers to visit.

Area birding guru Kenn Kaufman claims photographers capture
more warbler images in northwest Ohio during May than they capture anywhere
else in the United States. It may not be a proven claim, but I found his claim
you could even fairly readily catch a photo of birds near the boardwalks with a
handheld camera true (as this photo of a bird atop a birdhouse just off of the
boardwalk in back of the visitors' center I captured with my tiny point-and-shoot
camera proves).

We checked a short bit of the refuge's 7.5 miles of trails
leading off of a small boardwalk loop in back of the visitors' center. Several
level, small-gravel trails lead out from the boardwalk loop. A short east-west
trail connects the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge with Magee Marsh. The refuge
also periodically offers auto tours that take visitors to the marsh and some
areas not open to hiking.